Northern News

Be careful what you pray for in these parts

It snowed all day last Saturday in Sierra La Sal. By bedtime, there was three or four inches of snow. It’s hard to tell when the wind blows the snow around and drifts it. I dragged myself out of bed at 7:30 the next morning trying to make it to church on time (I’m not an early riser in my...

Guardian Angels sometimes have to work overtime

I believe in guardian angels. I’ve had too many experiences in my life to not believe. The verdict is still out on ghosts. I just know there are a lot of things that go bump in the night of which I have no explanation. Last months, a local La Sal lad had a miraculous experience with his guardian...

The newest elective surgery – yea or nay?

With the arrival of the pandemic last year, elective surgeries were put on hold for a while as medical resources were funneled toward fighting the virus. After a time, though, it was possible to once again have these procedures. I’ve been contemplating just that of late. You see, I have this...

Twenty-one gun salute for La Salian

Jack Shelby Turpin, a resident of La Sal, passed away January 6, 2021 at his home here surrounded by his family and friends after a battle with lung cancer. A small memorial service was held in La Sal on January 16 which included a 21-gun salute by the local VFW post, including members from La Sal...

Goodbye 2020, welcome 2021

We all have hopes that 2021 will be better than 2020, but we know that for the first few months – and maybe even longer – it will be the same old, same old. Something new is coming soon though. Dakota Espinoza, née Johnson, or as they use to say on Hee Haw, she who was Dakota Johnson and her...

Christmas decorations resurrected

Several decades ago – as in probably 40 years – La Salian Bill Tatton and his Moabite son created life-sized Nativity figures. Bill and his wife Belle displayed them in front of their house using spotlights to illuminate the scene. Bill and Belle themselves have been gone from this sphere for...

Sierra La Sal and the COVID Effect

Our village hasn’t gone untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this summer a young man who works in Moab and meets and greets a diversity of folks had a positive COVID test. He quarantined and headed back to work. His family, a wife, and two young sons also made it through without any...

Gonna get as dry as the Sahara

Folks in La Sal are mostly keep-to-themselves kind of people. They try to let people live as they please without too much interference. However, there is a plan afoot to develop 114 homesites on the main La Sal Block. Now, that’s a lot of abodes! As with the rest of the western United States,...

The Great Pumpkin and a Black Cat Tale

As you may have noticed, the La Sal Elementary PTO coven manipulates the date of Halloween most years to accommodate the festivities to a more convenient day. This year, Halloween falls on a Saturday. No need to reschedule the holiday. It is also a full moon that night. A nice, big Halloween moon...

Exercising the right to vote

Election ballots came in the mail last week. I turned mine around in two days. It’s one of those things that isn’t urgent, but I wanted to get it taken care of lest I forget. I exercised my right to vote in thankfulness for living in one of the freest nations in the world and in the history of the...